1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to personal cooling devices, and in particular, to personal cooling devices that utilize fans and water mist.
2. Description of the Related Art
Personal cooling devices utilizing fans and water mist have been used in hot-weather conditions for some time. The combination of a fine spray mist and increased air flow facilitates evaporation from the skin and, in turn, lowers the skin and body temperature of persons in the immediate fan environment. In recent years, water misters have been used in conjunction with fans or air blowers to specifically direct water bearing airflows toward the area to be cooled. Such devices are widely used to cool patios, decks and large open areas. Also, misters are employed at athletic events to provide a cooling environment for participants. Although these devices can be used to cool several people at once, they are bulky and take up a large amount of space.
The concept of combining spray mist with a fan has been scaled down to the individual level by equipping small, hand-held pump-spray bottles with small electrical fans. The fan blades on these devices are relatively small and often made of soft plastic or foam rubber to prevent injury to the user. Although these devices are portable, their capacity is limited because the volume of the spray bottle must be kept low due to the weight of the water. If the volume of the spray bottles exceed a quart or so, the bottle becomes too heavy to carry conveniently. In addition, these handheld held devices are usually powered by low-power batteries, thereby limiting the operational life of the devices. Also, these devices require at least one hand to operate the misting assembly.
During the summer, school buses and other vehicles can be unbearably hot. Unfortunately, the above devices offer little or no relief. The large box-type fans with drip or mist systems cannot fit into the limited space required for use in or around a vehicle. The small hand-held devices simply do not have adequate capacity, as measured by either the volume of water available, or by their electrical operational lives to keep users cool. In addition, the small hand-held devices require at least one hand to operate the misting assembly and thereby create a potentially unsafe situation if the driver is using such a device.
Although misting devices represent significant development in the area of personal cooling devices, significant shortcomings remain, particularly in the area of misting devices for use on or around vehicles. There is a need for a cooling device for use on a vehicle, the cooling device being powered by the vehicle""s existing electrical power supply and having a relatively large water capacity. This is especially true in the case of large vehicles such as a school bus or fire truck.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cooling device for use on a vehicle, the cooling device being connected to the vehicle""s existing electrical power supply, the cooling device having a fan member, a mist assembly operably associated with the fan member, and a pump member that pumps water from an available water source.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a mist assembly and an electric fan having electric motor driven blades rotating about a central axis and covered by a guard grill, wherein the mist assembly is mounted on the center of the front guard grill and uniformly disperses a fine mist within the airflow produced by the rotating fan blades.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a mist assembly for bladed fans having guard grills wherein the mist assembly is easily mounted on the guard grill, and may be retrofitted to existing fans of this type.
The above objects are achieved by providing a mist assembly that connects to an existing fan grill. The cooling device has an electrical fan member and a mist assembly featuring an atomizing nozzle. The mist assembly is operably associated with the fan member. The mist assembly has a pump member that draws water from a water source and pumps the water through the atomizing nozzle. The water mist emitted from the nozzle is uniformly dispersed as a fine mist within the airflow produced by the rotating fan blades and creates a cooling effect of about 20xc2x0 F. Because the mist assembly of the present invention is powered by the vehicle""s electric power supply, and has a relatively large water capacity, the mist assembly has a relatively long operational life.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent in the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.